White Flag

Forest Guardians Takayna - 2025 ink on muslin 294cm w x 120cm h

“But I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be “~ Dido “White Flag”

I’ve been sick all this week. Laid up in bed with a cold, lots of sneezing and head aches. All creative activities stalled. Suddenly the week has gone by and my plan to finish off a large collage I’ve been working on, went the way of all non essential plans, ie out the window.

I had to surrender. I thought of Dido’s song White Flag, of going down with the ship. In my mind the lyrics to the song said “I WILL put my hands up and surrender”. When I looked up the title of the song and found the correct lyrics, they were the exact opposite of what I was listening to in my head!

In my mind, surrendering to the all encompassing foggy head and running nose meant I not only couldn’t finish that collage, but that I thought I couldn’t put in my application for an exhibition call out before the due deadline. This led me to readjust my original submission concept so that it didn’t rely on the image I was trying (too hard) to create.

Instead I thought I’ll run with what I have got already which meant that my proposal felt stronger and I had enough images on hand to support the application, which I did manage to submit in time. Yay!

I look for the lessons that lie within surrender. When you are powerless to change a situation and need to improvise, adapt, change direction even. Maybe being incapacitated to some degree forces you into new and uncomfortable choices about prioritising your immediate concerns.

Waving a white flag for yourself is not failure. It can be a source of strength, of trust that you will emerge from the sickness/experience/situation with new understandings and clarity. I thought of the white muslin banner I had wrapped around a huge tree when I was in Takayna forest, Tasmania. Drawing around people’s bodies and hands as they hugged the tree, feeling its precious essence. Knowing that this tree and the forest around it could be logged at anytime within the next year or two.

I thought of what is worth prioritising when there are so many crises in the world that are calling for our attention. What would I go down fighting for? My exhibition proposal became a declaration of celebrating forests and forest guardians. Using the images I have already drawn to create new works from, to continue bringing awareness to the smallest leaf falling in a forest.

I love the title of Dido’s song White Flag, when we are all in hyper-vigilance over the world’s ‘red flag’ events. Maybe there is another series of artworks waiting to be created of white and red flags. Two opposites, two ways of thinking - to fight or to surrender? Knowing when or why to chose one over the other…

Forest Guardians 2025 collage on handmade kozo paper 21cm w x 15cm h